Conveyor system with height-adjustable conveyor bodies

ABSTRACT

A conveyor device includes at least three lift columns, a lower conveyor body, and an upper conveyor body. The upper conveyor body is adjustable in its height relative to the lower conveyor body. The lift columns project at least partially above the upper conveyor body without lengthwise supports acting in the transport direction.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns conveyor systems, and, more particularly,conveyor systems for transporting discrete goods between upper and lowerconveyor bodies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conveyor systems for transporting discrete goods between upper and lowerconveyor bodies are used in the prior art in connection with labelingand control as well as tracking goods. For example, such conveyorsystems may be used to transport packages containing pharmaceuticalproducts, packaged foods, or other products that have or are to obtainone or more labels and/or whose labeling is to be detected for controlpurposes. Such labeling and inspection devices are preferably arrangedvery close to each other, so as to occupy little space in productionplants. Conveyor systems may also be used in connection withserialization and aggregation of individual packages into bundles orcontainers, for which the individual packages (or groups of packagesformed from them) are to be checked or processed with regard to theirlabels or other properties.

In order to handle goods having different properties (shape/geometry,material, color, weight, etc.) in a modern fully automated production orinspection plant, such plants must have high flexibility. Since thegoods (also sometimes referred to as “products” in the following) mustpreferably be moved through the plants at high speeds (for example, 1 to4 m/sec), the adjustment and changeover for handling goods withdifferent properties must take place rapidly and error free.

Conveyor units having a lower and an upper conveyor belt are known forhandling goods of different properties. A good to be processed istransported in such a conveyor unit between the lower and upper conveyorbelts, either lying only on the lower conveyor belt or being clamped atthe same time by the upper conveyor belt. In clamped state the goods canmove accurately in time and position, so that, for example, a labelprovided as an imprint can be placed on the package/good at apredetermined application place very precisely even at high transportspeeds, often with tolerances of a few hundredths of a millimeter. Thishigh-precision movement or positioning of the transported goods is ofcrucial importance for quality when applying labels (printing barcodes,among other things) or in label detection (by scanner or camera), forexample for purposes of quality assurance.

Forming the upper as well as the lower conveyor belt each from twoconveyor bodies that are spaced apart side-by-side is also known. Thisarrangement of side-by-side conveyor bodies, each with a respective beltfor example, allows the placement of or action by processing tools, forexample printing heads, cameras, scanners, light gates, etc., evenbetween the laterally spaced conveyor belts, in order to easily reach,for example, the bottom area of a package. Also, the laterally spacedbelts prevent a rotation of the goods during transport. Anotheradvantage lies in the fact that the goods can lie on the belts of thelower conveyor bodies distinctly spaced at their side edges, so thatsafety labels or seals can be applied on the side of the good withoutproblem and can be shifted to the top or bottom side while the good isheld between the upper and lower conveyor belts. Preferably, theprocessing takes place dynamically, thus while the goods are moving.Theoretically, a purely static processing is also conceivable, for whichthe goods can briefly be stopped. While the lower conveyor bodies arepreassembled largely without a change in their height, the upperconveyor bodies are variably adjustable in height via a lift mechanismin order to be able to transport goods of different heights clampedbetween the upper and lower conveyor belts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Where goods have been transported between upper and lower conveyors, theaccess to the transported goods is limited by frames or stiffeningelements that serve to suspend the conveyor belts or are intended tostabilize them. Access from all sides to the goods carried between theconveyor belts is hindered by this and the flexibility of the conveyorsystem is correspondingly limited. It is therefore an object of thepresent invention to provide a conveyor system in which goods aretransported between upper and lower conveyors while allowing access tothe conveyed goods or their package surface on all sides.

This object is accomplished according to the present invention bymounting height-adjustable conveyor bodies on lift columns. This liftcolumn arrangement allows the conveyor bodies to be supported withoutadditional frames or stiffening elements which would hinder access tothe conveyor bodies or to the goods transported by them. The heightadjustment takes place according to an aspect of the invention by meansof four spindles positioned at the corners of a quadrilateral, inparticular a base frame for the conveyor apparatus, with each spindlecarrying at least one spindle nut. Cross braces, to which the upperconveyor bodies are affixed and which are held by the spindle nuts, runtransverse to the transport direction. By rotating the spindles, theheight of the cross member and thus the upper conveyor bodies can bevariably adjusted. An especially good access to the transported goods isachieved by the fact that supporting and stabilizing the lift columns toeach other above the upper conveyor bodies by lengthwise or transverseconnectors is at least partially omitted. Through this, in particular, alengthwise carrier supporting all of the lift columns or spindles in thetransport direction can be omitted, so that the space freed up by thiscan be used for positioning or for the use of processing tools. Comparedto the prior art, a conveyor system according to the present inventioncan be made still more compact and space saving by omitting or limitinglengthwise and transverse connectors between the lift columns orspindles.

A system made of the components “spindle nut” and “spindle” should beunderstood in the broadest sense to mean any system of form-fit ormechanically cooperating components that form a power transmissionsystem in which a linear movement is produced from a rotary movement.Thus a spindle according to the present invention may also be designedas a gear rack, while the spindle nut comprises a driven gear wheel thatrolls on the gear rack. Conversely, a spindle nut according to anembodiment of the present invention could also comprise a gear rackcoupled to a conveyor body, preferably a vertical rack, which can bemoved up and down over a driven pinion disposed on a base frame (thepinion in this case comprising a “spindle”). In one embodiment of theinvention, the spindle comprises a screw-like shaft, along which a nut(spindle nut) that has a profile complementary to the shaft profiletravels in response to rotation of the screw-like shaft about itslongitudinal axis.

A conveyor system according to a first embodiment comprises a base framewhich extends in a preferably horizontal transport direction X andlikewise preferably horizontal width direction Y running transversethereto. The base frame supports, directly or indirectly, at least onelower conveyor body, which is disposed at a height in a height directionZ running perpendicular to the transport direction X and the widthdirection Y. In some forms of this embodiment, the height of the atleast one lower conveyor body is essentially fixed and is not variablewith respect to the base frame. The “transport direction X” can, in whatfollows, be both the direction X and its opposite direction. Both casesare intended to be included under “transport direction X.” The baseframe in this embodiment additionally supports four lift columns, whichare disposed on the base frame at the corners of an imaginaryquadrilateral, in particular a rectangle, and each extends upward in theZ direction. The length and width of the imaginary rectangle may (butnot necessarily) correspond to those of the base frame, so that the liftcolumns stand at the corners of the base frame. A spindle in thisembodiment is disposed on each lift column with its longitudinal axisextending in the Z direction, so that the respective spindle can move aspindle nut operatively associated therewith in the Z direction upwardor downward by rotation of the spindle about its longitudinal axis. Thespindle nuts in this case carry jointly at least one upper conveyorbody, which is freely adjustable in its height because of the ability ofthe spindle nuts to move vertically, that is, in the Z directionrelative to the base frame. Of course in other embodiments, the at leastone lower conveyor body can be affixed to the lift columns instead of tothe base frame.

Instead of the corners of a rectangle, the lift columns could also bedisposed at the corners of a trapezoid or other quadrilateral, if spaceconstraints require this. Thus, for example, one pair of lift columnscould be farther apart in the Y direction than the other pair. Generallyspeaking, the lift columns are positioned so that access to the spacecircumscribed by them is guaranteed in the best way possible for thedisposition of processing tools.

According to one aspect of the invention, at least one lift column isnot connected to another lift column by a fixed lengthwise connectorrunning in the X direction above its spindle nut. Through theintentional omission of one such lengthwise stiffener for at least onelift column, there immediately results an improved access into the spacethat is defined by the upper ends of the four lift columns or theirlower base points on the base frame in the shape of a cuboid (alengthwise connector running in the X direction is understood to mean asupporting element that connects two lift columns that are spaced apartin the X direction either directly or indirectly).

The fact that the at least one lift column is weakened in its stabilityin the X direction because of the lack of support in that direction isadvantageously more than compensated by the improved accessibility ofthe said frame that results from this. This applies in particular whenthe forces (in particular, accelerating or braking forces of the upperconveyor bodies) acting on the columns in the X direction are low and/ortwo or all three of the remaining lift columns are stillcounter-supported in the X direction.

This case would be given, for example, by an L-shaped top frame, whichsupports three of the four lift columns at their relevant upper ends,where one side of the L extends in the transport direction X and theother side of the L shape extends in the Y direction. Also, anembodiment in which the lift columns opposite each other in the Ydirection are connected by a cross member without provision of alengthwise support going in the X direction creates unhindered access tothe goods transported between the upper and lower conveyor bodies fromabove.

An additionally embodiment provides that at least one lift column is notconnected in a supporting way either in the X or in the Y direction toanother lift column above its spindle nut, thus projecting freely upwardin the Z direction. This solution of course no longer comprises the casethat lift columns opposite each other in the Y direction arecounter-supported by means of cross members. However, the access aroundthe at least one free standing lift column in the space described aboveis further improved.

Another embodiment of the invention provides that at least two liftcolumns are disposed without lengthwise and transverse connectors toother lift columns, thus projecting freely upward in the Z direction.This solution comprises the case that the two other lift columns areconnected to each other in the lengthwise or transverse direction or arelikewise designed to project upward in a free standing way in the Zdirection. An L-shaped top frame no longer falls under these criteria,so that once again an improved access into the inner space results.

In yet another embodiment, all lift columns are designed to be freestanding in order to have maximum freedom of access.

An especially good access into the space described by the lift columnsresults further in embodiments in which an X spacing of the lift columnsthat stands above the at least one lower conveyor body is at least halfas large as the X length of an upper or lower conveyor body. The maximumwidth in the Y direction of the conveyed goods is preferably determinedexclusively by the Y spacing of the lift columns that exists in theintermediate space between the at least one lower conveyor body and theat least one upper conveyor body. Expediently, this spacing is as largeas possible, in order to be able to convey relatively wide goods.

According to another embodiment of the invention, each of the spindlesdisposed on each lift column together with the associated spindle nutsforms a lift mechanism, and all four lift mechanisms are coupledtogether and can be synchronously actuated manually or automatically.The coupling serves to set all spindles into rotation at the same timeso that all spindle nuts move equally upward or downward. A uniformlifting or lowering of the at least one upper conveyor body carried bythe spindle nuts takes place through this. Because of the coupling ofall spindles, this height adjustment can take place not only rapidly,but also with high precision, so that the upper conveyor body or bodiesundergo absolutely translational motion. The coupling can expediently berealized in that each spindle has at its lower end (above, within, orunder the base frame) and at the same height, a gear wheel or a pulleywheel that is non-rotatably connected to the spindle, and anappropriately tensioned matching chain or toothed belt passes in aclosed loop around all gear wheels or pulley wheels of the individuallift columns. By manual or motor rotation of at least one of the fourspindles, the other spindles undergo the same rotary motion because ofthe coupling in this arrangement, so that the spindle nuts carried bythe spindles all move upward or downward at the same time and uniformly.This avoids a tilting or distortion of the cross members or the conveyorbodies between the lift columns. A manual drive can be formed, forexample, by a small crank arm, a hand wheel, or an adjusting screw,which is connected with the associated spindle nonrotatably at an upperend of a lift column. To be sure, the combination of a plurality ofmanually actuatable hand wheels or automatically operated drives thatcan engage one or more of the spindles, as desired, is also possible.Automatic drives could in this case be electronically synchronized, sothat a mechanical coupling of the individual spindles could even beomitted in this case.

In the mechanically coupled spindle arrangement described in thepreceding paragraph, a chain used instead of a toothed beltadvantageously allows the removal or insertion of elements, so thatvarying Y or X spacings of the individual spindles can also be moreeasily realized. Moreover, compared to the use of a toothed belt, thedanger of skipping a tooth is reduced and a chain is more robust andwear resistant than a toothed belt.

In some implementations each spindle nut is provided with a linear guidethat prevents the relevant spindle nut from twisting in an X-Y planeand/or tipping relative to an X-Y plane. An especially precise guidingof the spindle nuts and thereby the at least one upper conveyor bodyresults from this linear guide arrangement.

According to some embodiments of the invention, a cross member extendsfrom a spindle nut or a holder mounted thereon to the spindle nut or aholder mount thereon of the lift column lying opposite in the Ydirection. The at least one upper conveyor body in such an embodiment ismounted movable in the Y direction on this cross member. While the crossmember can be positioned in the Z direction due to the ability of thespindle nut to move vertically, the positioning of the at least oneconveyor body in the Y direction takes place by transverse shifting ofthe conveyor body in the Y direction along the cross member. Theshifting in the Y direction may take place manually. However, anautomatic positioning in the Y direction may also be included in someimplementations, for example by linear drives. The cross member mayextend as far as possible in the Y direction, so that the at least oneupper conveyor body can correspondingly freely be positioned over theentire width to a suitable Y position within the frame defined by thelift columns. For an implementation in which two upper or lower conveyorbodies are provided, both conveyor bodies are mounted on the crossmember so that they can be shifted in the Y direction and are for thisreason both correspondingly freely positionable.

In order to be able to position the at least one upper and also the atleast one lower conveyor body stably, at least two cross members areprovided per conveyor body and are supported by lift column pairs thatare opposite from each other in the Y direction. While the at least oneupper conveyor body is held by vertically movable spindle nuts and thecross members connected to them, the cross members supporting the lowerconveyor bodies may be fixed in place on the lift columns or the baseframe. However, in some embodiments of the invention the height of theat least one lower conveyor body is also adjustable, for example throughlatching, clamping, or adjusting mechanisms. This gives the advantagethat the height position of the at least one upper conveyor body is notnecessarily set by the vertical thickness of the package to betransported. Instead, upper and lower conveyor bodies can assume avertical distance to be established between them at different heights.This again increases the flexibility of the conveyor system.

Although the use of only one lower and only one upper conveyor body fortransport of the goods to be transported could be sufficient in someapplications (and in this case would offer maximum accessibility toconveyed goods), some embodiments of the invention my include at leasttwo upper and/or lower conveyor bodies in order to better establish theposition of the conveyed good in the space. Thus, an upper conveyor bodycould be used together with two lower conveyor bodies that are spacedapart in the Y direction, so that, looking in the transport direction X,there are three contact points between the belts of the conveyor bodiesand the product. Conversely, two upper conveyor bodies could lieopposite one lower conveyor body. An especially expedient and stableproduct transport results from the use of two upper and two lowerconveyor bodies that are spaced apart in the Y direction, so that fourcontact points or lines between the conveyor bodies and the productresult. A rotation and/or shifting of the products during transport islargely excluded by this arrangement of conveyor bodies. Furthermore,the product transported or held in this way is also secured as well aspossible against tilting about an imaginary tilting axis running in thetransport direction X by selecting the Y spacings of the conveyor bodiesto be as large as possible.

According to some forms of the invention the upper and lower conveyorbodies are aligned with each other in the Z direction. However, thisalignment in the Z direction is not absolutely necessary. Rather, theability of each individual conveyor body to be shifted horizontallyalong its cross member allows any desired positioning of each conveyorbody in the Y direction, so that a product can be held on its top side,for example, by two closely disposed upper conveyor bodies, while thelower conveyor bodies are spaced farther apart in the Y direction. Suchan arrangement may be used where the product is to be provided with animprint in the middle of its bottom side. The lower conveyor bodiespositioned far apart will not interfere with this. A seal that is to bewrapped under on the side wall could be applied at the edge of the topside of the product, so that the upper conveyor bodies that lie close toeach other at the top of the product likewise are not a problem here.

The arrangement of the upper conveyor bodies with the cross memberscarrying them, their mounts on the spindle nuts, and a motor driving theupper conveyor bodies may be, as a whole, also referred to as the “upperconveyor.” Correspondingly, the arrangement of the lower conveyor bodiesand their motor, the associated cross members, and their mounts on thelift columns or the base frame may be referred to as the “lowerconveyor.”

According to some embodiments of the invention, a cross member carryinga conveyor body has a series of latch teeth along its Y extent. Thelatch teeth serve to precisely set the Y position of the conveyor bodyalong the cross member and to maintain that position reliably. Inaddition, the precise positioning made possible by the latch teeth helpprevent a misalignment of the belt (and thus the transport device) or atilting of the conveyor body.

The latch teeth form a part of a latching mechanism, which can beactuated automatically or manually (including manually without the useof tools). Such a mechanism may also include a latching lever coupled tothe conveyor body. The latching lever can be moved from a releasedposition, in which it releases the latch teeth, into an operatingposition, in which an engagement into one or more of the latch teethtakes place, in order to fix the conveyor bodies in their Y positionalong the cross member. The latching lever can, in the operatingposition, mesh into the latch teeth of the cross member directly.Alternatively, the engagement can be brought about through anintermediate part connected to the latching lever, where theintermediate part in turn engages or releases the latch teeth. Theengagement can also take place simultaneously in a plurality of latchteeth in order to achieve an especially stable positioning. Preferably,each conveyor body has at least two latching mechanisms, of which eachone interacts with one of at least two cross members, which support theconveyor bodies.

If the positioning of the conveyor bodies in the Y direction takes placeautomatically, for instance through linear drives with encoders,latching mechanisms as described in the preceding paragraph may beomitted.

In the released position the conveyor bodies can, according to theinvention, freely shift along the cross member in the Y direction. Inorder to facilitate the assumption of a predefined Y position, the crossmember can have a grid-like profile in the Y direction, in which amechanical positioning aid engages, in addition to the latch teeth. Thiscan be a series of recesses made close to each other in the cross memberin the Y direction, in which a spring loaded ball on the latchingmechanism engages. During the shifting, the balls, which project insuccession into the individual profile recesses, specify a correspondingselection of Y positions, which, for example, lie at a spacing ofpreferably 2 to 5 mm. The balls push the latching mechanism out from thein-between shift positions. Moreover, the recesses may be selected sothat at these positions the latch teeth of the cross member are offsetfrom the latch teeth of the latching lever or the intermediate part, sothat by pivoting the latching lever at these positions, the mutualengagement of the latches is easily possible and, for instance, twoteeth do not interfere with each other. The latch teeth of the crossmember can also serve as profile recesses at the same time in that thespring-loaded balls run on the latches, instead of having to engage inrecesses specially provided for them.

Additional embodiments of the invention may be configured such that asegment of the latching lever projects into the region between the upperand lower conveyor bodies in the released position. In this position, itis not possible to transport goods, since the transported goods strikethe projecting lever segment and immediately become visibly stuck. Thisinforms the operator that the conveyor belt is not yet secured in its Yposition along the cross member, and therefore the latching lever stillmust be set into its operating position.

Each conveyor body may comprise at least one circulating endless belt,which is turned and/or driven in the transport direction over front andrear pulleys or rollers. The Y width of the belt is preferably rathersmall in order not to cover too much of the surface of the transportedpackages. The thickness of the belts in the Z direction is basicallyfreely selectable and is governed by the requirements on the forces offriction to be applied between package and belt in the X and Y directionor clamping forces in the Z direction. For example, the belts of the atleast one lower conveyor body may be about 1 mm thick, while the beltsof the at least one upper conveyor body may have a thickness of about 2to 3 mm. In each case according to flexibility and compressibility, inparticular, of the belts of the upper conveyor body, variations in theheight of the individual packages can also be compensated by this.

The belt of at least one upper and/or lower conveyor body may be drivenby a motor in order to transport the goods situated between the conveyorbodies (driving just one belt could be sufficient if the belt of theother conveyor body runs in a sufficiently low friction way and can bemoved along with the other one). The motor driving the at least oneupper conveyor body is preferably affixed to a spindle nut or a mountdisposed thereon, together with one of the cross members, which supportsthe at least one conveyor body, so that the motor can move together withthe conveyor body in the Z direction.

The motor for the lower conveyor body (this motor can likewise move inthe Z direction according to some embodiments) is preferably attached tothe base frame, the lift columns, or a mount disposed thereon, togetherwith one of the cross members for the lower conveyor body. The largelyidentical construction of the upper conveyor and lower conveyor allowsthe use of like parts, which advantageously reduces the diversity ofparts and the warehousing costs.

A shaft may extend from each motor in the Y direction to a pulley of theat least one associated conveyor body, in order to transmit a torque tothe respective conveyor belt. The pulley is in this case mounted on theshaft nonrotatably, but capable of being shifted in the Y direction, inorder to be able to freely position the conveyor body in the Ydirection.

An especially expedient embodiment of the nonrotatable connection of thepulley, which is not limited to the use in the transport deviceaccording to the invention, provides that the pulley (or any othermachine element that can be shifted and is to be provided with torque)is attached to the shaft by means of two opposed freerunning sleeves(which together form a freerunning clutch to the respective conveyorpulley). Since freerunning sleeves act nearly play-free in the blockingdirection, the use of two opposed freerunning sleeves provides anonrotatable connection between the pulley and the shaft in bothdirections of rotation without any appreciably angular play. In this wayit is ensured according to the invention that the belts of the conveyorbodies can be accurately driven and the current X position of the goods(in dynamic and in static operation) can be established correspondinglyprecisely. Moreover, the two freerunning sleeves remain freely shiftabletogether along the shaft. The situation would be different with atraditional nonrotatable, but shiftable, connection between pulley andshaft, in which the shaft is profiled in the circumferential directionand the pulley has the corresponding counter profile (for example asquare profile). In these cases play can hardly be avoided, which leadsto undesirable operational noise and positioning errors. The latter areadditionally critical in the case of product processing in a conveyorsystem when products are to be taken from upstream conveyors or are tobe delivered to downstream conveyors.

The freerunning sleeve arrangement is also advantageously suitable for asingle- or multi-track transport, inspection, or weighing system. Inthis case one or more conveyor bodies are provided for each of theindividual tracks and these in particular can be driven via a commonshaft. For this the shaft can extend through the pulleys or rollers thatdrive the belts or bands of the individual conveyor bodies and arecoupled to them nonrotatably but shiftably by the freerunning sleeves.In this way individual conveyor bodies can be freely shifted along theshaft for instance to define tracks, track spacings, or, in general, tochange the spacings of individual conveyor bodies or to be able tochange and set the number of conveyor bodies per track.

In a further embodiment the driveshaft runs not directly through thedrive wheels or rollers of the conveyor bodies, but rather is apart fromthem. Individual drive connections of the driveshaft to the relevantconveyor bodies are in this case further coupled in a shiftable way tothe shaft via the freerunning clutch, and the conveyor bodies or theirdrive wheels or rollers can correspondingly be shifted in the Ydirection (for example along undriven guides) in order to be able totake new positions.

Of course, the bands or belts of the conveyor bodies of such a system,in particular a multitrack weighing system, can also be driven via aplurality of independently operated shafts, each of which drives one ormore tracks or their associated bands or belts by means of freerunningsleeves.

The freerunning sleeves can, of course, also be used “in reverse,” by atorque being transmitted non-rotatably but shiftably from a pulley orroller to a shaft.

The two freerunning sleeves can preferably be pressed, bonded, oraffixed in any other force-fit and/or form-fit way that is substantiallyknown to one skilled in the art into a hub formed on the pulley.

With respect to the conveyor body, the pulley is fixed in the Ydirection in that it is bounded on both sides by two deflectors affixedto the conveyor body. Preferably, these deflectors serve at the sametime as transfer runners, on which the transported goods can betransferred to a downstream conveyor or can be taken from an upstreamconveyor.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the two motorsthat each drive an upper and a lower conveyor body are both on the sameside (looking in the Y direction) of the conveyor bodies, where theypreferably also lie essentially one above the other in the Z direction.This makes wiring easier. In addition, the accidental swapping of theupper conveyor and lower conveyor during assembly is excluded, since themotors in this case would collide with each other. Also, encoders, whichcan be positioned on the driven shafts in each case for high precisiondetection of the rotary motion of the motors, then preferably lie on thesame side (looking in the Y direction) of the conveyor bodies, likewisepreferably essentially one above the other in the Z direction. Throughthis a common protective housing (in particular made as a handprotection guard) can be provided for both encoders and the wiring alsobecomes easier.

It is provided according to another advantageous embodiment of theinvention that the arrangement of the at least one upper conveyor bodywith its motor (upper conveyor) is completely removable from the deviceas a modular unit. This is enabled in that the cross member carrying theconveyor body and its motor are together separable from the spindlenuts. Expediently this takes place via mounts that can be unscrewed orunlatched with the spindle nut, the said mounts in turn accommodating anend of a cross member and, if the motor is also intended to sit in thisregion, the motor as well. Then the upper conveyor can be removed fromthe device by simply releasing all four mounts from the four spindlenuts.

This is also correspondingly applicable for the at least one lowerconveyor body together with its motor (lower conveyor) with thedifference that here the cross members and the motor are not disposed onthe spindle nuts, but rather on a mount that is directly connected tothe lift column or the frame.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that at least oneupper or lower conveyor body projects out in the X direction from thespace that is described by the four lift columns. This facilitates thetransfer or delivery of the products to/from adjacent transport units.If in addition there is a different X length between the upper and lowerconveyor bodies, the free space forming the difference allows thedisposal of additional processing tools (printing heads, sensors,labelers, etc.). Preferably, a plurality of carrier openings lying inthe X direction, which are available for the cross members to be passedthrough, are provided on the conveyor bodies. Through this, the Xposition of a conveyor body relative to the cross members and thus tothe lift columns can be changed, as will be clear from the figuresdescribed below.

In order to be able to process goods transported by the conveyor systemaccording to the invention during their transport, various processingtools are required. These can include: cameras, scanners, light gates,labeling units or printing units, and other reading and/or labelingmeans, which are substantially known to one skilled in the art. Becauseof the suspension of the conveyor bodies on the lift columns accordingto the invention and the omission of parts of an upper frame, theprocessing tools can be flexibly disposed at various positions aroundthe conveyor bodies or the goods transported by them. Preferably, thistakes place by means of at least one carrier unit for holding suchprocessing tools, which is manually or automatically adjustable relativeto the base frame in one or more spatial directions (X, Y, Z). Inaddition or alternatively, individual processing tools can also bedirectly attached to the conveyor bodies. This gives the advantage thata repositioning of the processing tool when there is a change of theheight position, in particular of the upper conveyor body, is notnecessary, since the processing tools move together with the conveyorbody.

A device according to various embodiments of the invention may beintegrated as a module into many different kinds of production lines, bydisposing it between a delivery unit and a transfer unit. The freeadjustability of the conveyor bodies allows the best possible matchingto the products that are to be transported or processed in each case.Also, the upper or lower conveyor bodies (“upper conveyor” or “lowerconveyor”) that are jointly disposed on the upper or lower cross memberscan be removed as modules and replaced as desired without, inparticular, undertaking structural changes on the device.

Although an embodiment with four spindles at the corners of a rectangleis preferred because of its characteristic stability, basically speakinga design with three lift columns and spindles is also encompassed withinthe scope of the present invention. These lift columns can be arrangedat three of the four corners of a quadrilateral, in particular arectangle, where each spindle carries a cross member that can be shiftedonly through it or at least two of the spindles jointly carry at leastone cross member.

These and other advantages and features of the invention will beapparent from the following description of representative embodiments,considered along with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conveyor device according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the device shown in FIG. 1, with arepresentation of a product held between the upper and lower conveyorbodies.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the device shownin FIG. 1 showing latching levers in an operating position to latch theconveyor bodies in place along the cross member.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view similar to the view of FIG. 3 butshowing the latching levers in a released position.

FIG. 5 is a view in perspective showing two lift columns with crossmembers and motors in between them.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing the use of freerunningsleeves on the drive shaft.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view through one of the pulleys shown inFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the device shown in FIG. 1, but withprocessing tools added.

FIG. 9 perspective view showing a portion of the bottom of the baseframe with a spindle coupling.

DESCRIPTION OF REPRESENTATIVE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the conveyor device 1 according to theinvention in a perspective view. An essentially rectangular base frame 2extends in a lengthwise direction X and horizontally in a widthdirection Y running perpendicular thereto. The X coordinate alsorepresents the direction of transport, in which goods are to betransported by the device, where the transport can take place in the Xdirection or also in the opposite direction. Lift columns 3, whichproject essentially freely upward in a height direction Z, are disposedat each of the four corners of the base frame 2. Each lift column 3includes a spindle 5 and a spindle nut 4, which can be moved by thespindle 5 in the Z direction. The illustrated spindles 5 are mounted onsuitable bearings at their upper and lower end regions to facilitaterotation of each spindle about its longitudinal axis. Each spindle nut 4carries a mount 7 (not all of the elements described here are providedwith reference numbers in the figures because of the perspective viewand for better clarity). The mounts 7 that are opposite from each otherin the Y direction each jointly carry an upper cross member Q_(O). Thetwo upper cross members Q_(O) project through the front and rear endregions of two upper conveyors bodies O₁, O₂, which are affixed to thetwo upper cross members Q_(O) and spaced apart in the Y direction.

At their lower ends (hidden by base frame 2 in the perspective of FIG.1), the four spindles 5 of the lift columns 3 are fitted nonrotatablywith gears F, around which all together passes a tensioned chain G,which is guided in a groove in base frame 2. A portion of this gear Fand chain G arrangement is visible in the view of FIG. 9. The rotationof one spindle is thus synchronously transmitted to all other spindles.The lift column 3 shown in the foreground in FIG. 1 is fitted at theupper end with a hand wheel 8, which is nonrotatably connected to thespindle of this lift column (this particular spindle being obscured inthe perspective of FIG. 1). By rotating the hand wheel 8, all spindles 5are rotated in the same direction via the coupling of the chain G (shownin FIG. 9), so that the spindle nuts 4 seated on the spindles aresynchronously moved up or down in the Z direction.

The two upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ each include an endless belt R₁, R₂(see particularly FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6) which is supported on therespective conveyor body along its lengthwise extent in the Z directionand is reversed at the ends of the conveyor body by two pulleys S (shownin FIGS. 6 and 7). All of the parts turning or driving the belts may bedesigned to have identical teeth, so that with the belts (R₁, R₂), whichmay be toothed belts, parasitic frequencies generated by the drive canadvantageously be reduced, in particular to just one. One of the pulleysS of each upper conveyor body O₁, O₂ is driven by means of an uppermotor M_(O) as is apparent from FIG. 1 (and the enlarged views of FIGS.6 and 7). The illustrated upper conveyor body drive arrangement includesa motor shaft W_(O) extending in the Y direction through both pulleys Sof the two upper conveyor bodies, and each of these pulleys is disposedon the shaft W_(O) nonrotatably, but moveably in the Y direction. Themotor M_(O) driving the two upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ is affixedtogether with the upper cross member Q_(O) to the mounts 7 of thespindle nuts 4, so that the motor M_(O) together with the cross memberQ_(O) follows a vertical travel of the spindle nuts 4 as the upperconveyor bodies O₁, O₂ are positioned at a desired level in the Zdirection. In addition to the upper cross member Q_(O), the form of theapparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes on the motor-side end of the upperconveyor bodies O₁, O₂ a stabilization shaft W_(S) between the mounts 7through the upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ This stabilization shaft W_(S)helps to support the upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ and to keep the shaftW_(O) driven by the motor M_(O) largely free of bending torque ortensile/compressive stresses.

The illustrated apparatus includes, under the upper conveyor bodies O₁,O₂ two lower conveyor bodies U₁, U₂. These lower conveyor bodies arealso supported via two lower cross members Q_(U) (of which only one canbe seen in FIG. 1) on the lift columns 3. The lower cross members Q_(U)in this particular embodiment are essentially fixed in place on the liftcolumns 3 and in particular cannot be moved in the vertical direction Zvia the arrangement of spindles 5 and spindle nuts 4.

The two lower conveyor bodies U₁ and U₂ are, similar to the upperconveyor bodies, driven by a motor M_(U), which is disposed under themotor M_(O) in the Z direction. The two motors M_(O), M_(U) thus lie (inthe Y direction) on the same side of the conveyor bodies in theillustrated apparatus, which simplifies wiring and prevents anaccidentally reversed assembly. The upper motor M_(O) projects upward inthe Z direction to the upper side turned away from the upper conveyorbodies O₁, O₂. Correspondingly, the lower motor M_(U) projects downwardin the Z direction to the lower side turned away from the lower conveyorbodies U₁, U₂. The space between the motors is thus advantageously leftfree for the transported goods.

Discrete goods are transported between the upper and the lower conveyorbodies O₁, O₂, U₁, U₂, by driving the conveyor body belts in the Xdirection through the conveyor system, where the goods can be processedby various processing tools during this travel, i.e., preferably whilethe goods are moving.

FIG. 2 shows the device in FIG. 1 with a view in the X direction. Thisview shows two lift columns 3, which have a clear space Y₃ between themin the Y direction. A product P to be transported in the X direction (inthis case out from the plane of the drawing) is disposed between theupper and lower conveyor bodies O₁, O₂, U₁, U₂. In particular, product Pis clamped in the height direction Z between upper surfaces defined bythe upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ and lower surfaces defined by lowerconveyor bodies U₁, U₂. As will described further below the upper andlower surfaces in this illustrated form of the apparatus compriseconveyor belts. It is apparent from FIG. 2 that both upper conveyorbodies O₁, O₂, are driven by the upper motor M_(O), the shaft W_(O) ofwhich extends through both pulleys of the two upper conveyor bodies inthe Y direction (the pulleys being essentially obscured in this view byportions of the upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ and thus not labeled inthis view). In the same way the two lower conveyor bodies U₁, U₂ aredriven by the lower motor M_(U). One can also see in FIG. 2 that the twoupper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂, along with motor M_(O) with cross memberand shafts together as the “upper conveyor” are disposed via the twomounts 7 on the spindle nuts 4, which can be moved up and down along thelift columns 3 by means of the spindles 5 (the spindles being hidden inthis view). The lower conveyor bodies U₁, U₂ and their motor M_(U)(together with which they may be referred to as the “lower conveyor”)are likewise mounted via mounts 7′ on the lift columns 3. The mounts 7′,however, are different from the mounts 7 in that mounts 7′ areessentially fixed in place and not vertically movable via the spindles(5 shown in FIG. 1).

One can further readily see in FIG. 2 that the passageway available forthe goods P to be transported is determined on the one hand by thevertical spacing of the upper and lower conveyor bodies O₁, O₂, U₁, U₂and on the other hand by the horizontal spacing Y₃ of the two (or allfour) lift columns 3. Through the arrangement of the motors M_(O), M_(U)above and below the conveyor bodies, this passageway is advantageouslyleft completely free in order to be able to transport goods with maximumY width.

FIG. 3 shows the attachment of the upper conveyor bodies O₁, O₂ in amore detailed view. In particular, FIG. 3 shows one of the two uppercross members Q_(O), which passes through both upper conveyor bodies O₁,O₂ and is mounted by its ends at the mounts 7 (compare FIG. 1). Thecross member Q_(O) is provided along its Y extent with latch teeth 9,the sides of which run parallel to the Z direction. Two latching levers10, which can be pivoted from a released position to an operatingposition and back, are disposed on each conveyor body O₁ and O₂. In theoperating position shown in FIG. 3, an intermediate part E attached tothe latching lever 10, engages the latch teeth 9 of the cross memberQ_(O) in the X direction so that the intermediate part E and, with it,the relevant conveyor body cannot be shifted from its Y position, whichis determined by the latch teeth.

In FIG. 4 the latching mechanism with the latching lever 10 is shown inthe released position. In this case the intermediate part E no longer isengaged with the latch teeth 9 of the cross member Q_(O), so that therespective conveyor body can be freely shifted in the Y direction. Atthe same time, a free end 100 of the latching lever 10 projects in the Zdirection to the region between the lower and upper conveyor bodies.Transport of a product is prevented in this case and the system operatorwill immediately recognize that the conveyor bodies are not yet securedin their Y position. Preferably, all components of each latchingmechanism include individual parts that are connected together and thuscaptive. By coloring the latching lever 10 a special color, for instancebright red, its current pivot position (either the operating position orreleased position) can be made recognizable particularly easily. By ascale disposed on the cross members and/or additional positioning aids,for instance a ball latching mechanism (not shown), specific Y positionscan be set for the conveyor bodies particularly easily.

Expediently, at least two latching mechanisms spaced apart in the Xdirection are disposed on each conveyor body in order to ensure thealignment of each conveyor body parallel to the transport direction X.If each conveyor body is held by at least two cross members, one suchmechanism can be disposed on each cross member. One can further see onFIGS. 3 and 4 that each conveyor body has a plurality of approximatelysquare-shaped carrier openings A that are spaced apart from each otherin the X direction, with one such opening A being penetrated by thecross member Q_(O). The X position of the conveyor bodies relative tothe cross members can be configured by passing the cross members throughone of the carrier openings A as desired.

FIG. 5 shows a part of the conveyor device 1 according to the inventionin a perspective view looking at two lift columns 3 and the componentsdisposed in between them. One can also see the spindle 5 associated witheach lift column, each spindle 5 carrying a spindle nut 4 and a mount 7disposed thereon for an upper cross member Q_(O) with two upper conveyorbodies O₁, O₂ affixed thereto. A linear guide 6, which guides verticallymoving spindle nuts 4 along the spindle 5 and safeguards againsttilting, can be seen on the lift columns 3 at the back of the drawing inFIG. 5. Such a guide 6 may be provided for the spindle nuts 4 of thedevice on all lift columns 3.

The mount 7 shown in FIG. 5 on the right side and supported by thespindle nut 4 carries, on the one hand, the upper cross member Q_(O)and, on the other, the upper motor M_(O). The spindle 5 of the frontlift column 3 (and through the coupling by means of a chain or toothedbelt, not shown, the three other spindles as well) can be operated viathe hand wheel 8 situated at the upper end of the lift column shown inthe foreground.

FIG. 5 also shows the latching mechanism (including latching levers 10)provided on each conveyor body, which establishes the Y position of theconveyor bodies along the cross member, which is designed as a gearrack.

The lower drive shaft W_(U) that can be seen in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG.6 in an enlarged partial view. The shaft W_(U) projects through twopulleys S of the two lower conveyor bodies U₁ and U₂. Each pulley S ismounted on the shaft W_(U) nonrotatably, but with the ability to shiftin the Y direction in order to enable the ability of the entire conveyorbody to be shifted in the Y direction. The nonrotatable connection ofthe pulley on the shaft W_(U) takes place by two oppositely rotatingfreerunning sleeves H into the hub of each of the two pulleys S as shownparticularly in FIG. 7. The freerunning sleeves H are freely movable inthe Y direction on the shaft W_(U) and are fixed on the inside diameterof the pulley at their outer side, due to being pressed in. Theoppositely rotating freerunning sleeves H form a nonrotatable connectionof the relevant pulley S with the shaft W_(U) with extremely small playin the circumferential direction while at the same time having very easyshiftability in the Y direction. The Y position of each pulley is fixedrelative to the conveyor body in this embodiment, preferably withoutaxial play, through two deflectors L adjacent on the sides of eachpulley S and affixed to the conveyor body. Plastic disks K with goodslip properties are disposed between the deflectors L and the pulley Sin the axial direction for a mount that is as friction free as possible.The deflectors L have a slightly conical outline on the end facing awayfrom the conveyor body, with which they can connect to adjacent conveyordevices or conveyor belts, so that the products to be received from suchdevices or to be sent to such devices can be transferred with as fewproblems as possible.

FIG. 8 shows a device similar to that shown in FIG. 1, but additionallyincluding carrier T disposed directly on the base frame 2. The carrier Tcan be moved in space in the X, Y, and Z directions relative to the baseframe 2 or relative to the upper and lower conveyor bodies O₁, O₂, U₁,U₂ via a cross table and a lift mechanism. A camera C and two printheads D are disposed on the carrier T as processing tools, which canprocess a product transported by the conveyor bodies on the side betweenthe upper and lower conveyor bodies. Another carrier, not shown in thisperspective, with like adjustability and processing tools is disposed onthe back side of the device, which is facing away from the viewer, wheresaid tools can differ from those of the first carrier T in type andposition. A plurality of carriers T can also be synchronouslypositionable, for instance by means of linear drives supplying twocarriers at the same time.

FIG. 9 shows in a simplified partial view the nonrotatable coupling ofthe spindle 5 of a lift column 3 to the other spindles. A segment of thebase frame 2 is shown at an angle from below in perspective view. Fromthe lift column 3 situated at one corner of the base frame 2, itsspindle 5 (only a bottom connector of which is visible in thisperspective) extends through the base frame downward, where a gear F isconnected nonrotatably to the spindle 5. A chain G, which is shown in asimplified form, runs in a groove in base frame 2 and wraps around thegear for about 90°. Although not shown in the partial view of FIG. 9,the chain G may run to the other spindles of the other lift columns,which are made in the same way, and is adjustably tensioned. The chain Grunning around all the spindles transfers the torque introduced throughone of the spindles, for example, by means of hand wheel 8 in FIG. 1, toall of the other spindles, so that their spindle nuts can be moved upand down synchronously.

As used herein, whether in the above description or the followingclaims, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understood to beopen-ended, that is, to mean including but not limited to. Also, itshould be understood that the terms “about,” “substantially,” and liketerms used herein when referring to a dimension or characteristic of acomponent indicate that the described dimension/characteristic is not astrict boundary or parameter and does not exclude variations therefromthat are functionally similar. At a minimum, such references thatinclude a numerical parameter would include variations that, usingmathematical and industrial principles accepted in the art (e.g.,rounding, measurement or other systematic errors, manufacturingtolerances, etc.), would not vary the least significant digit.

Any use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., inthe following claims to modify a claim element does not by itselfconnote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element overanother, or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed.Rather, unless specifically stated otherwise, such ordinal terms areused merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certainname from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinalterm).

In the above descriptions and the following claims, terms such as top,bottom, upper, lower, and the like with reference to a given feature areintended only to identify a given feature and distinguish that featurefrom other features. Unless specifically stated otherwise, such termsare not intended to convey any spatial or temporal relationship for thefeature relative to any other feature.

The term “each” may be used in the following claims for convenience indescribing characteristics or features of multiple elements, and anysuch use of the term “each” is in the inclusive sense unlessspecifically stated otherwise. For example, if a claim defines two ormore elements as “each” having a characteristic or feature, the use ofthe term “each” is not intended to exclude from the claim scope asituation having a third one of the elements which does not have thedefined characteristic or feature.

The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate theprinciples of the invention, but not to limit the scope of theinvention. Various other embodiments and modifications to thesepreferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. For example, in someinstances, one or more features disclosed in connection with oneembodiment can be used alone or in combination with one or more featuresof one or more other embodiments. More generally, the various featuresdescribed herein may be used in any working combination.

REFERENCE NUMBER LIST

-   -   A Carrier opening    -   C Camera    -   D Print head    -   E Intermediate part    -   F Gear    -   G Chain    -   H Freerunning sleeve    -   K Plastic disk    -   L Deflector    -   M_(O), M_(U) Upper/lower motor    -   O₁, O₂ Upper conveyor bodies    -   P Goods to be transported (product)    -   Q_(O), Q_(U) Upper/lower cross member    -   R₁, R₂ Belts    -   S Pulley    -   T Carrier    -   U₁, U₂ Lower conveyor bodies    -   W_(O), W_(U) Upper/lower motor shafts    -   W_(S) Stabilizing shaft    -   X Lengthwise direction    -   Y Width direction    -   Z Height direction    -   X₃ X spacing of two lift columns    -   Y₃ Y spacing of two lift columns    -   1 Conveyor system    -   2 Base frame    -   3 Lift column    -   4 Spindle nut    -   5 Spindle    -   6 Linear guide    -   7, 7′ Mount    -   8 Hand wheel    -   9 Latching teeth    -   10 Latching lever    -   100 Segment on latching lever

The invention claimed is:
 1. A conveyor system including: (a) a baseframe extending in a transport direction and in a width direction, thewidth direction extending horizontally transverse to the transportdirection; (b) at least one lower conveyor body defining a lower surfaceextending in the width direction, the at least one lower conveyor bodybeing directly or indirectly supported on the base frame at a positionin a height direction extending perpendicular to the transport directionand width direction; (c) a respective lift column located at each of atleast three corners of an imaginary quadrilateral lying in a planedefined by the transport direction and the width direction, each liftcolumn being connected to the base frame and extending in the heightdirection from an upper side of the base frame, each lift columnincluding a respective lifting mechanism with a spindle nut having aposition that is adjustable along the respective lift column in theheight direction; (d) at least one upper conveyor body defining an uppersurface extending in the width direction, the at least one upperconveyor body being supported on the lifting mechanisms of the liftcolumns so that a spacing between the at least one upper conveyor bodyand the at least one lower conveyor body may be varied in the heightdirection via the lifting mechanisms to facilitate clamping an object tobe conveyed by the conveyor system between the lower surface and uppersurface as the object is conveyed in the transport direction; and (e)wherein the lift columns include at least one lift column that is notconnected to any other one of the lift columns by a lengthwise connectorextending in the transport direction above the spindle nut of the atleast one lift column.
 2. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein the atleast one lift column is not connected to any other of the lift columnsby a transverse connector extending in the width direction above thespindle nut of the at least one lift column.
 3. The conveyor system ofclaim 1 wherein the lift columns include at least two lift columns thateach freely project in the height direction above their respectivespindle nut without either a lengthwise connector or a transverseconnector to other lift columns.
 4. The conveyor system of claim 1wherein a spacing between adjacent lift columns in the transportdirection at a position along the height direction above the at leastone lower conveyor body is at least half as large as the length of theat least one upper conveyor body or at least one lower conveyor body. 5.The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein a spacing between adjacent liftcolumns in the width direction above the at least one lower conveyorbody and under the at least one upper conveyor body determines a maximumdimension in the width direction for accepting goods to be transportedby the conveyor system.
 6. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein thelifting mechanism of each lift column includes a respective spindle onwhich the respective spindle nut is adjustable in the height direction,and wherein the respective lift mechanisms are coupled to each other viaa chain or belt for synchronous activation.
 7. The conveyor system ofclaim 1 further including a respective linear guide for each respectivespindle nut operable to guide the respective spindle nut during movementin the height direction to prevent misalignment of the at least oneupper conveyor body relative to a plane defined by the transportdirection and the width direction.
 8. The conveyor system of claim 1further including a cross member extending from the respective spindlenut or a mount installed on that spindle nut of a first one of the liftcolumns to the respective spindle nut or a mount installed on thatspindle nut a second one of the lift columns that is adjacent to thefirst one of the lift columns in the width direction, and wherein the atleast on upper conveyor body is mounted on the cross member so as to beadjustable in the width direction.
 9. The conveyor system of claim 8wherein the cross member has along its length in the width direction aseries of latch teeth, wherein a latching lever coupled to the at leastone upper conveyor body is moveable from a released position, in whichthe latch teeth are released to facilitate movement of the at least oneupper conveyor body in the width direction, to an operating position, inwhich one or more of the latch teeth are latched so as to secure the atleast one upper conveyor body in the width direction along the crossmember.
 10. The conveyor system of claim 9 wherein that the latch leverincludes a segment that projects into a region between the at least oneupper conveyor body and the at least one lower conveyor body when thelatch lever is in the released position in order to block transportedgoods when the latch lever is not in the released position.
 11. Theconveyor system of claim 1 further including: (a) a motor; and (b) ashaft connected to be driven by the motor and extending in the widthdirection to a pulley of the at least one upper or at least one lowerconveyor body, the pulley being coupled nonrotatably to the shaft, butmovably in the width direction.
 12. The conveyor system of claim 1further including: (a) a cross member extending from a first separablemount connected to the respective spindle nut of a first one of the liftcolumns to a second separable mount connected to the respective spindlenut of a second one of the lift columns that is adjacent to the firstone of the lift columns in the width direction, the at least one upperconveyor body being mounted on the cross member; (b) a motor for drivingthe at least one upper conveyor body, the motor being mounted on thecross member; and (c) wherein the cross member, the at least one upperconveyor body, and the motor are removable as a modular unit from thespindle nut of the first one of the lift columns and the spindle nut ofthe second one of the lift columns.
 13. The conveyor system of claim 1further including: (a) a cross member extending from a first one of thelift columns to a second one of the lift columns that is adjacent to thefirst one of the lift columns in the width direction, the at least onelower conveyor body being mounted on the cross member; (b) a motor fordriving the at least one lower conveyor body, the motor being mounted onthe cross member; and (c) wherein the cross member, the at least onelower conveyor body, and the motor are removable as a modular unit fromthe first one of the lift columns and the second one of the liftcolumns.
 14. The conveyor system of claim 1 wherein at least one upperconveyor body or lower conveyor body traverses one of the lift columnsin the transport direction.
 15. The conveyor system of claim 1 furtherincluding at least one carrier unit disposed on the base frame, and aleast one processing tool mounted on the carrier unit in position tointeract with a good transported by the conveyor system.
 16. Theconveyor system of claim 15 wherein the carrier unit is adjustable inthe transport direction, the width direction, and/or the heightdirection.